Technological advances make possible the creation of new portable, affordable, and connectable Personal Health Devices (“PHDs”). These PHDs may collect vital signals of users, such as blood pressure, heart rate, weight, etc., and share these signals in the form of digital data using communications technologies, such as Bluetooth, Bluetooth Low Energy, USB, Near Field Communications (“NFC”), Radio-Frequency Identification (“RFID”), etc.
Some PHDs can be associated and connected to other devices using wired or wireless technologies, such as Bluetooth or USB. These other devices may be called, for example, health gateways, collectors, or hubs, and may generally be referred to as “hubs” herein. These devices may be specific hardware devices for collecting of health data, and/or software applications running on cellphones or computers. These devices may collect data from PHDs and send them to external servers.
In some scenarios, PHDs may not need to be associated and connected to a specific hub in order to collect health data. For example, these PHDs may share their information using near-field technologies in a way that the connection between the PHD and hub may happen in one specific moment, and no association between the devices may be required a priori. The use of near-field technologies may involve the touching, or close physical approach, of the hub to the PHD. This physical movement may be difficult for a user, such as when if the hub or the PHD is not portable enough. For example: the hub may include a personal computer or a set-top box attached to a TV set. In another example, and the PHD may include a weighing scale on the floor, which is not easily moved.
In various scenarios, the use of hubs and PHDs may make it possible to users to record health information and take care of their health at home, work or other places. However, although they are Personal Health Devices, a common use case is that PHDs are used by multiple users. As an example, a weighing scale at home may be shared by a whole family. Therefore, associating or connecting a PHD to one's personal device, such as a cellphone, or other device used as a hub, may make this PHD accessible only to the owner of the cellphone.